By LARRY VAUGHT

If there’s one certainty about John Calipari it is that he is not a conventional coach.
That’s why he focuses on offense, not defense, in the preseason. He wants his players to build confidence, be happy and enjoy playing before they start concentrating on defense — and he says his team’s lack of defensive continuity was obvious in Wednesday’s Blue-White Game.
“This stuff for me is figuring out all these guys. Some guys were getting mad at themselves,” said Calipari after an intrasquad record 14,060 UK fans watched the game at Rupp Arena.
“We have a long way to go defensively. I try to get the offense right and then I go to defense and it never has really hurt my teams. I want my players confident offensively and not demoralized by the defense which usually gets ahead of the offense.”
As expected, Kentucky’s offense is going to be run by John Wall. Despite questions about his potential eligibility hanging over his head, he was smooth as silk most of the game that the Blue technically won 106-73 even though players shuffled back and forth between the teams. He had 25 points on 12-for-23 shooting, 11 assists, seven rebounds, four steals and one blocked shots while playing a team-high 39 minutes.
The freshman point guard can finish the fast break or lob a pass to a teammate for an easy score — and he enjoys both.
Junior Patrick Patterson also verified why coming back to UK to play for Calipari could dramatically raise his draft status. He had 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds. But he was 2-for-4 from 3-point range and put the ball on the floor on an out of bounds play and pulled up to hit a 15-foot shot to end the first half.
“Pat needs to be more vocal out there. What I like is that he played this offense but you still saw him around the basket. He will find ways to get to the post,” Calipari said. “He did a good job and got himself there and shot a high percentage. Didn’t you like seeing him shooting a couple of 3’s? It was amazing seeing him catch the ball 20 feet from the basket and drive by people.”
Patterson liked seeing so many smiles on the court, something that was missing the final part of last season.
“There are a lot of smiles. The freshmen are jumping up and down and getting the crowd into the game. People are smiling, having fun, joking around. That’s nice to see,” Patterson said.
And the 3-pointers?
“I love it. As long as they keep going in, I will keep shooting them,” Patterson said.
Here are a few other observations from the game:
— DeMarcus Cousins wants to be the player Calipari envisions. He might be not in great shape yet, but the freshman center made an effort to run the court hard despite tweaking his ankle early in the game. He can rebound and block shots. He also made a nifty move off the dribble and his no-look pass to Patrick Patterson was the best of the game. He had 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one blocked shot.
— Freshman Eric Bledsoe can create his own shot and seemed to accept playing with Wall.
“When Eric played with John he had six assists and no turnovers. I thought they played better together than when they were separated, but they will have to play by themselves at times and they can do that,” Calipari said.
— Freshman Daniel Orton didn’t take a shot the first 18 minutes. He’s a big body and can rebound and block shots, but he needs to become a little more offensive oriented. He made six of nine shots and had eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
— Freshman Jon Hood took Calipari’s preseason message to heart to shoot. He had a team-high 12 shots in the first half and finished the game 6-for-21 from the field. However, he did show he could play with the stars of his class and he played with no fear.
— Junior college transfer Darnell Dodson needs strength, but he’s scrappy and he looks like a shooter. He made four of 11 3-pointers.
— Sophomore DeAndre Liggins did his best to assert himself on the defensive end, but he was too aggressive — much like he was on offense last year. He had six fouls in the first half and eight overall.
n Darius Miller is smooth, can handle the ball well in this offense and does a lot of little things well. But he also seemed to stand and watch Wall a lot, especially in the first half. He finished the game 7-for-13 from the field and had five rebounds and two assists.
— Senior Ramon Harris displayed a new accuracy from 3-point range that could be his ticket for admission to the court. He was 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
— Senior Perry Stevenson was, well, he was still Perry Stevenson. He got knocked around going for rebounds and may have a minor role at best this year.
— Josh Harrellson had a double-double — by halftime — and could well work his way into Calipari’s playing rotation.
The coach, though, will want to see more from his team in Monday’s exhibition game with Campbellsville — or maybe even in the special practice he’s having at Louisville’s Freedom Hall Sunday at 6 p.m.
“We took some bad shots. We threw some balls that we should not have thrown. We tried to make plays that we could not make. We just can’t play that way. But we have had nine days and 13 practices. I am still learning what my guys need to do,” Calipari said.

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